The first half at Twickenham was unconventional in the extreme and Eddie Jones may wonder when his starters are going to outperform his lauded finishers
It had the fingerprints of Brendan Venter, the Italy defence coach who was brought to Saracens by Eddie Jones in 2009, all over it – and it worked a treat. Italy’s tactic of refusing to engage in rucks after tackling their opponent meant there was no offside line when the ball came back and it baffled Jones’s team. Time and again the England players could be heard remonstrating with the referee, Romain Poite, but as he correctly and continually pointed out, that is the law. Danny Care was among the most frustrated of England’s players while James Haskell, when trying to seek clarification, was told by Poite: “I’m sorry; I’m a referee, not a coach.” England’s second-half response was pretty emphatic but the fact they needed the coaches to tell them how to solve the problem is a concern, nearly as much as the fact they did not appear to know the law in the first place.
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